Ashodara

Friday, 15 January 2016

While we Indians pride ourselves over the rich diversity of communities, race and religion that our country has, it also means dealing with differences and contradictions in the way we live, eat and pray. However there has always been a sense of, not just tolerance, but respect for these differences. This appears to be an intrinsic factor of Indian cultural ethos. Mahatma Gandhi once said, ‘we must respect other religions, as we respect our own. Mere tolerance is not enough’. There have been times when this sentiment could not hold up against hatered and violence however there were other times too when this sentiment flowered against heavy odds. Seventeenth century Maratha society was one such period in the history of this great nation.

It is a myth to presume that a society at confrontation with itself cannot find ways to co-exist peacefully. The Medieval period in the Maratha Empire saw three apparently conflicting forces at work, especially during the seventeenth century: there was religious as well as political conflicts among the Bahamani kingdom, the Mughals and the Marathas. With the consolidation of Maratha power in this century, the Hindu and Muslim communities of the Maratha society found innovative ways of co-existing with mutual respect and peaceful tolerance. There were instances of hate and intolerance, no doubt, but these were offset by numerous examples to the contrary. The people and the rulers, in their wisdom knew that the only way for a peaceful society was respecting and giving space to the ‘other religion’. Marathi writers and historian have cited numerous instances of this as depicted in the daily lives of administrators and rulers. Examples from which our present day society could learn a lesson or two.

Bahmani Sultanate 1347-1527 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Saraswati Gangadhar, author of Gurucharitra, a poetic work of the fourteenth century, mentions that Alauddin II (1435-57), of the Bahamani dynasty which ruled over much of Deccan India, including parts of present day Maharashtra between the 13th and 16th century, held great respect for Narsimha Saraswati, the hero of Gurucharitra.

Ibrahim Adil Shah II (1490-1510) another Bahmani ruler, tried to create cultural harmony among Shias, Sunnis and Hindus through the medium of Art. According to Chitnis (p48) he was a worshipper of Allah and a Hindu goddess. Both the Mandir and the Masjid were sacred to him. His official documents would begin with the words Az-puja-i Shri Saraswati. He built a temple at Bijapur dedicated to Lord Narsimha. He bestowed liberal grants to temples and safeguarded the rights of pujaris. Little wonder that he came to be known as Jagadguru.

The Mahanbhav Matha of Otur (Pune) received land grants from the Nizam Shahi rulers who ruled over large parts of Deccan (1490-1633) with their capital at Ahmednagar in present day Maharashtra. Chand bibi, the regent of Ahmednagar (1596-99) and sister of Hussain Nizam Shah I, sent a note to her officers to respect all such grants to Hindus and Brahmans. The priest of Pedgaon (Ahmednagar) too received land grant from Malik Amber (1549-1626) who was a very popular Siddi Prime Minister in the Ahmednagar Sultanate (Kulkarni p. 113).

Maratha Empire 1674-1818 (photo credit: Wikipedia)

Among the rulers of the Maratha Empire (1674-1818), Shivaji’s grandfather, Maloji Bhonsale was a disciple of the legendary Muslim saint-poet, Shaikh Muhammad, and when Maloji shifted to Nizamshahi (in Ahmednagar district) he brought Shaikh Muhammad along with him (Kulkarni p.110). Maloji also gave 12 bigha land to Shaikh Muhammad and built a math (hermitage) for him at Shrigonde (Dhere, p60). Ramdas, the great saint poet of 17th century, was a strong critic of the Muslim rule but a great admirer of Shaikh Muhammad (Chitnis, p110). Sant Ramdas was Shivaji’s guru.

Maloji Bhaonsale’s wife and Shivaji’s grandmother, Umabai, took a vow to Shah Sharif of Ahmednagar for a child and when she gave birth to two sons, they were named after this Pir : Shahaji and Sharifji, in gratitude for his blessings (Dhere, p.60). The dargah of Shah Sharif enjoyed two villages, Eklare and Konosi under the Marathas (Bendre). Mir Sayyid Sadi of Nasik and Mulla Hussaini Mosque of Rannebennur (Dharwad) received inam lands from Shahaji (Kulkarni p. 112). Shivaji held great respect for Baba Yakut of Utambar village near Kelashi (Ratnagiri) and Sambhaji undertook the construction of his dargah which eventually remained incomplete. Numerous Muslim holy men received allowances for maintenance and illumination of mosques from Shivaji, including the Pir of Sayyid Sadat Hazrat (Pune region). The Kazi of Indapur and the khidmatgar of the Bhambavade mosque received land and allowances from Shivaji. Many believe that Shivaji’s son, Sambhaji was victorious against the Portuguese due to the blessings of Pir Abdullah Khan and in return the Prime Minsiter, Kavi Kailash granted the Pir certain allowances. Shivaji’s grandson, Shahuji gave an entire village in grant to the Muslim saint Sayyid Ata-ullah of Shakarkoti of Loni in Pune. The Peshwas too were equally generous and benevolent towards Muslim holy men: Pirs Sayyid Sada and Shaikh Salah received grants from Peshwas for construction purposes. Even the dispute among them regarding who would lead the Muharram procession was settled by the Peshwas. Dargah of Shaikh Salah and Takiya of Angad Shah received one sher of rice and one paisa for Frankincense every day from the royal palace.

The village councils were called gotsabhas and enjoyed supreme positon in the society and state and it decided cases that effected the whole society. The Kazi and the Maulana had a seat in the gotsabha and in every village Got, the proportion of Muslim members was usually proportional to the Muslim population in that village. Both the Hindus and Muslims sat together in the temple village and settled disputes irrespective of caste or religion. Mulansara, a kind of tax originally introduced by the Muslim rulers for the maintenance of the village Maulana continued under the Marathas. Muslim Patils were not unheard of under the Marathas (Kulkarni p.115).

Both the Bhakti and Sufi movements were at their peak during this period, both sought to bring about socio-religious reforms in their communities. With their message of universal love and brotherhood, they placed the service of fellow humans above religious rituals. Muslims learnt Sanskrit and also studied the sacred poetry of Bhakti saints. The study of the ‘other’ religion promoted a better understanding of each other and helped in eradication of religious prejudices. The well-known Marathi saint poet of this period, Sant Eknath wrote his famous gatha – Hindu Turk Samvad which consisted of a dialogue between a Hindu and a Muslim (Turk) who, at the end of a lengthy dialogue, end up respecting each other as creations of Khuda. Sufis at this time made valuable contributions to devotional literature in Marathi. Shaikh Muhammad, the Muslim saint poet wrote Yoga Sangram (1645), Nishkalanka Prabodh, Pavan Vijaya and 300 abhangas (devotional poetry sung in the praise of the Lord Vitthal) in Marathi. Another Muslim saint of this period, Husain Ambakhan, who was a devotee of Lord Ganesh, wrote a Marathi commentary on the Bhagvatgita. Shah Muntoji Bhahmani, a Muslim saint of the seventeenth century, who hailed from the royal family of Bidar (Bahmani Rulers) was initiated into the Bhakti cult by a Hindu saint – Sahajanand Swami of Kalyan (Bijapur). Shah Muntoji wrote Panchikaran in Dakhani Hindi, outlining the common fundamental concepts in Hindu and Muslim scriptures. His contemporary, Shah Muni, a Muslim saint, lamented that the enmity between Hindus and Muslims was due to the absence of proper understanding of their respective faiths (Kulkarni p.111).

Time and again the people, the mystics and the leaders have proved that the essence of this land is peace and harmony in spite of differences and diversity. Let us sow the seeds of love again in the consciousness of this sub-continent.

Wednesday, 1 July 2015

For all those
who equate organised religion to dharma and who, due to their narrow
mind set, are compelled to box pluralistic saints like Kabir and Shirdi Sai
baba into Hindu/Muslim categories, for them, Sant Eknath is an enigma, an
embarrassment. His Guru – Swami Janardan, is claimed, by some scholars, to be a
Sufi Many of his bharuds (devotional songs) are in Hindustani and can
often be mistaken to be written by a Sufi. He spoke of finding parallels in
Hinduism and Islam, his followers belonged to different castes and creeds and
according to one legend he even led Muslim armies on one occasion. Little wonder then that recent Marathi
writers, have tried to recast him as a saviour of Hinduism from Islam although
available literature proves something altogether different!!

The story of
sant Eknath is a story of a scholarly Brahmin whose compassion and wisdom
allowed him to rise above caste distinction and even engage Muslims in his
spiritual dialogues.

Sant Eknath
(1533-99 C.E.) was born to a Brahmin family in the holy city of Paithan, known
as the Benaras of Maharashtra, which stood on the banks of Godavari. He was the
grandson of Sant Bhanudas- a devout Warkari sant who is credited with returning
the idol of Vithobha from Hampi to Pandharpur, its original home. It had been
taken from Pandharpur by Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagar in 1951. Spiritually
inclined from a very early age, Sant Eknath was allowed by his guru, Swami
Janardhan to lead a life of a house holder. Sant Eknath carried forward the
tradition of social reform of Sant Gyaneshwar and Sant Namdev by rejecting all
distinctions of caste and creed and the relevance of ritual and rites. For this
he won many opponents among the high caste Hindus.

He composed
numerous religious songs in Marathi called abhangs, owees and bharuds. He wrote a commentary in Marathi on the
Bhagvad Purana known as Eknath Bhagwat and also began writing Rukimini
Swayamvara which, after his death, was later completed by one of his disciples.
His works brought the highest of religious truths and moral guidance to the
common people. He was a renowned kirtankaar giving birth to a unique
style of Marathi kirtan singing called Eknath kirtan. He
collected all the versions of Gyaneshwar’s Gyaneshwari and produced a critical
edition of it.

Sant Eknath's abhang sung by Pandit Bhimsen Joshi:

However his
unusual contribution to Marathi Bhakti literature is his empathy with the
dalits. Out of the three hundred bharuds (drama poems) that he has
written, about fifty are from the perspective of a Dalit. In forty seven of
which the protagonist is a Mahar and in one a Mang is the central character.
Both these castes are considered among the ‘lowest’ in Maharshtra and elsewhere
in India. These characters in Eknath’s drama poems, preach morality, the
righteous path, the importance of a Guru and how the Bhakti marg liberates
us from the cycle of death and rebirth. He mocks at the so-called learned
Brahmins and fake gurus in the following Bharud:

“They say
‘we have become saints’

They put
on garlands and sandal paste.

Taking a
lamp in their hands

They cry udo,udo…..
!

They do
kirtan for the sake of their stomachs

They
teach the ‘meaning of all’ to the people.

They
cheat their ignorant devotees.

They do
not know the meaning of kirtan…….

Do the
one kind of Bhakti.

Don’t
wait for anything else.

Good and
bad come in their own way.

They are
the proof of past deeds…..”

Like his
predecessors of the Warkari Bhakti movement, Eknath, in his following Bharud
preaches that all humans can experience nearness to God irrespective of
caste and creed:

God baked
pots with Gora

drove
cattle with Chokha

cut grass
with Savata Mali

wove
garments with Kabir

dyed hide
with Ramdas

sold meat
with butcher Sajana

melted
gold with Narhari

carried
cow dung with Jana Bai

and even
became the Mahar messenger of Damaji

There are
numerous stories of Eknath being ostracised and punished by the Brahmins for
his proximity and social interactions with the so called ‘untouchables’.

Eknath is also
credited with contributing to the religio-cultural pluralism of the Deccan in
the sixteenth century. He lived during the rule of Ahmednagar Sultanate. Apart
from being an ancient capital, the sixteenth century Paithan was a major
trading centre and Eknath had the opportunity to interact with people of all
castes as well as Indian Muslims and Arabs.

His guru, Janardhan Swami, was a saint as well
as in charge of the Daulatabad fort. Janardahan Swami was the disciple of Chand
Bodale, also known as Chandrabhat, who was a Vaishnav and yet a follower of the
Kadri or Qadarriya Sufi path and dressed like a faqir. At one time, it is
believed, Eknath took his guru’s place to lead the Muslim army when the fort
was attacked, as his guru was in deep meditation at this time!! According to
Rigopoulos (p.160) Eknath disguised himself as his guru and in the process
acquired all his strength and defeated the attacking army. This phenomenon of
the disciple (murid) completely absorbing himself into the personality
of his master (shaykh) is known as fana-fi-sh’shaykh among Sufis.

The Sufi
influence on Eknath is further indicated by the number of Persian and Arabic
words found in his Bharuds. While recently many right wing ideologist
have tried to cast Sant Eknath as a saviour of Hinduism from the ‘hated’ Muslim
tide, numerous scholars, both Hindu and Muslim, concur that medieval India was
an era of tolerance, participation of Hindu subjects in the Islamic government
and cultural interaction and influence among the two communities. Eknath’s bharud
titled, Hindu-Turk Samvad sums up the situation aptly:

Eknath: The
goal is one, the ways of worship are different.

Listen
to the dialogue between these two!

The Turk
calls the Hindu ‘Kafir’!

The
Hindu answers: ‘I will be polluted, get away!’

A
quarrel broke out between the two,

A great
controversy began.

Muslim: O
Brahman! Listen to what I have to say:

Your
scripture is a mystery to everyone,

God has
hands and feet, you say.

This is
really impossible!

Hindu: Listen
you great fool of a Turk!

See God
in all living things.

You
haven’t grasped this point

And so
you have become a nihilist…….

At that
moment that saluted each other.

With
great respect, they embraced.

Both
became content, happy.

Quiet,
calm.

‘You and
I quarrelled to open up the knowledge of high truth,

In order
to enlighten the very ignorant.

In place
of karma-awakening!!’

(Note:
References for any information cited in the article may be obtained on request
from the writer.)

Monday, 4 May 2015

A warkari on his way from
Alandi to Pandharpur. Photo credit: Wikipedia

Since the 13th
century, Pandharpur in Maharashtra became a birthplace of a religious movement
which was born locally but had a universal appeal, going beyond caste and
religious identity. This movement was given life to by a saint called Pundalik. According to Bahirat (4 p.6), Pundalik
lived before the eighth century A.D. It is
believed that in his younger days, soon after his marriage Pundalik began to
neglect his parents. However one day, an encounter with the divine, reformed
him and he became a devoted son. As the story goes, Lord Krishna and his
consort, Rukmini chanced upon Pundalik’s hut in the forest on a rainy day.
Pundalik was busy attending to his parents and did not rise immediately to pay
his respects to the deity but hurled a brick in His direction for Him to stand
on without getting His feet wet. Pleased with Pundalik’s devotion to his
parents, Lord Krishna asked Pundalik to worship Him as Vithoba i.e. the one who
stood on a brick. At this scene, a form of Krishna arose standing on a brick,
around which the temple of Pandharpur was later built.

Interestingly
the name ‘Pandharpur’ is derived from Pandurang – one of the many names of Lord
Shiva, moreover the temple of Pandharpur, dedicated to Lord Krishan, an
incarnation of Vishnu, is surrounded by Shaivite temples. Perhaps an indication
that the universal Truth exists beyond all different forms and cults of
worship.

Hence from 13th
century on wards Pandharpur became place of pilgrimage for the Warkari Bhakti
movement. Most Marathi sant poets
who worshipped Vithoba (Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu) and all those who
followed their teachings form a part of this movement. The Warkaris identify
with a succession of over fifty poet saints who lived over a period of five
hundred years. Among whom the major four are, the outcaste Brahmin- Dnyaneshwar or Jnandev (1275-1296); the tailor Namdeva (1270-1350); Eknath
(1533-1599) who was a householder Brahmin and the editor of Dnyaneshwari; the
shudra poet saint Tukaram (1608-1659); and Ramdas (1608-1681) who is considered
as a political saint and teacher of Shivaji.

Sant Dnyaneshwar, image credits: Wikipedia

The Warkaris believe Sant Dnyaneshwar, also known as Jnandeva (1275-1296)
to be their founder. However according to Bahirat (4 p.6),
Pundalika and his God were enjoying a wide reputation nearly four of five
centuries before Dnyaneshwar. Dnyaneshwar’s father and grandfather were regular
visitors to Pandharpur.

Dnyaneshwar is one of the greatest poet saints
of medieval India . In a short life span, he produced a stupendous amount of
spiritual works which includeda
major philosophical treatise (the Amritanubhava), a large
number of religious poems (called abhangas), and an
extensive poetic commentary on the Bhagavad Gita (titled,
after his name, Dnyaneshwari).His works also include Changadeva-Pasashthi
(containing sixty-five verses addressed to a Hathayogi called Changadeva), Haripatha
(containing a collection of twenty eight Abhangas) and Namana (a
hymn containing hundred and eight stanzas in praise to the Lord of the universe).

Dnyaneshwar, at a very tender age, became an ‘outcaste Brahmin’
because of his father’s actions. His father was a Brahmin named Vithalpant
from Alandi in Maharashtra. Vithalpant left his wife and children to become a sanyasin
(ascetic). However after being chided by his guru, Ramanand for abandoning
his true ‘dharma’ of looking after his family as a householder, Vithalpant
returned to his family. Once back in Alandi, he and his wife were
excommunicated by the ruling Brahmin elite who denounced him for mixing up
"life stages" and for contaminating sannyasa with
worldly family concerns. But the fact was that Vithalpant was no sinner, in
fact he had shown the courage and selflessness to return to his family to
perform his duties and sacrificed his
desire for renunciation. However he became a victim of Brahamanical tyranny. Ultimately
Vithalpant and his wife Rukmini committed suicide. At this timeDnyaneshwarwas merely eight years old.

Vithalpant's story proved that the path to God leads through the
world, universal love and service of humanity.This path is
available to all and is not the exclusive right of Pundits and Brahmins. The priests and Brahmins, in their arrogance, claim to "possess" God by
virtue of their Vedic knowledge(jnana)and rituals. In their ignorance
they do not know that the divine can never be possessed but can only be pursued
through a life of service.

Dnyaneshwar is
believed to have befriended the poet-saint Namadeva who was by some five years
his senior, when the two first met in Pandharpur. Dnyaneshwar’s meeting with this great Sant was
of great significance in shaping his philosophy which was later to become the
foundation of the bhakti cult in Maharashtra.While in Pandharpur,
Jnanadeva became a devotee of the god Vithoba . The two saints went on a pilgrimage
together, visiting most of the holy places in northern India, including Benaras
and Delhi. Following this journey, they returned to Pandharpur (in 1296) where
a great festival was held in their honour. This festival was attended by many
contemporary saints like Goroba the potter, Sanvata the gardener, Chokhoba the
untouchable, Parisa Bhagavat the Brahmin. At the end of this festival Dnyaneshwar expressed the wish to return to Alandi and to
entersanjivan samadhi.

Dnyaneshwar’s writings
are not in Sanskrit but in popular
Marathi. They are based on his own life experiences, a
life reflectively lived. He was a thinker and a poet as is evident in both hisJnaneshvariand his Amritanubhava –works well known for their searching insights and poetic style.
He composed theAmritanubhava,a philosophical poem at the behest
of his elder brother and guru, Nivrittinath, at a time when Jnanadeva was
probably in his late teens. According to some scholars while the Dnyaneshwari
appeals to the masses, the Amritanubhava appeals mainly to the learned. It is
more argumentative.

As its title indicates, Amritanubhavais nectar of wisedom derived from direct experience and it gives a glimpse into the nature of ultimate
experience. It is meant to serve as a guide to the understanding of"Brahman"or "being"According to Dnyaneshwar, being is not an object of
thought, but what allows thought to happen in the first place. He argues that sense (or sensory) experience only
'"makes sense" in light of another, deeper understanding; similarly,
reason is "rational" only by exceeding itself. For him the truth of experience
is not validated or authenticated by scriptures; but scriptures
gain their authoritative standing through their agreement with experiential
truth. He says that the absolute does
not prove or disprove itself with the help of any norms or methods of
knowledge....These methods are like a lamp lit at midday which neither spread light nor dispel darkness.He further argues that words to describe the state of Being are not self-contained, each points beyond itself like the symbols of Jung, which stand for something more than their obvious meaning. In Amritanubhava he says, "Being by itself, the
absolute, is beyond the ordinary conceptions of existence and
non-existence."....." Looked at from
this angle, the scriptural words appear as "the residues of our
thought"; in the light of being itself, "they vanish like the clouds
that shower rain, or like the streams that flow into the sea or the paths that
reach their goal." He further adds that "if the situation is such that
nothing at all exists, who then knows [and can say] that there is nothing?
Hence, the theory of emptiness (as nothing) appears as an "unjust
imputation" to being: For, "if the
extinguisher of a light is extinguished along with the light, who knows that
there is no light?"

Dnyaneshwari, was completed in 1290 A.D. It was written in Old Marathi and was
initially called Bhavartha-deepika . He wrote it on the instructions of his older brother and Guru Nivruttinath who
wanted to bring to the common man the Vedanta philosophy of Upanishads, which
till then was available only to the Sanskrit-knowing pundits. Since then
Dnyaneshwari, with its anti-Brahmanical overtones, has been a timeless
spiritual guide providing knowledge and inspiration to all. It is still the
most respected religious text in Maharashtra and has been the foundation of
bhakti tradition there: a tradition so old that its exact origin cannot be pin
pointed. It is continuous and free flowing like a river and yet without an
organised structure.

The Warkari movement or sampraday, is an inner
religion of the heart which advocates ethical human behavior and classless
values and therefore has a wider appeal than the caste-based organised Hindu
religion which has rigid orthodox rules of behavior, is ritual based and
requires the mediatory role of Brahmins. While in its earlier form this
movement was open to all, both Hindus and non-Hindus, over the years it appears
to have lost its pluralistic nature.

Following are a few lines from the English translation of Dnyaneshwari by Dr. Ravin Thatte, it talks about people mired in rituals :

"They quote the scriptures for these acts Expect the heavens for these acts Little realizing what are the factsPleasure is their only aimReward their only gameRigid rituals again and againThis is religion only in name"

Saturday, 2 May 2015

The Bhakti movement has its inception in the 8th century Tamil Nadu. By the 10th century it had spread to Karnataka and Maharashtra and finally by the 16th century, it had established itself in North , West and East of India . This era saw the rebel-mystic-poets who in their spiritual poetry spoke against the orthodox Brahmins, the caste system and the irrelevance of mindless rituals. For them divinity dwelt within the heart of Man and could be experienced with Love and surrender. They insisted on the personal experience of God.

In its initial stages it was nurtured by Shaiva and Vaishnava Bhakti cults in Tamil Nadu and by Lingayats of Karnataka in 11th and 12th century followed by the Warkari panth of Maharashtra in the 13th century. In the 14th century Central and North India saw the initiation of Nirguna Bhakti by Ramananda's school and the Chaitanya school of Saguna Vaishnava Bhakti and Bengal and Orissa. There was a parallel stream of Saguna Bhakti running in Gujarat (Sadarangani: Bhakti Poetry in Medieval India, 2004).

The Vaishnava Bhakti school was born at the time when Buddhism and Jainism were on the decline. This movement found acceptability among the so called lower castes who had been sidelined by mainstream Hinduism.

Premanand Bhatt was a 17th century bhakti poet (1649-1714), who mastered the art of akhyan: a form of story telling popular during the middle ages. The first clear notion of Gujarati language developed in the 17th and 18th centuries in the work of Premanand. The stories were usually taken from the Puranas. The episodes were modified depending on the theme; for entertainment or edification. The narration was split into units called kadavans. The narration was dramatized giving a detailed description of the characters, their emotional states, the seasons and scenes etc. The narrator who presented the tale before an audience was called a bhatt, who produced beats on a copper pot hitting it with metal rings on his fingers. The pot was called mann, .

Premananda was the supreme akhynkara. His akhyans were based on Puranic themes, the life of Narsinha and lilas of Shri Krishna. He was a master of language and melodious verse. Akhyans were offshoots of Bhakti poems and their stories celebrate the infinite lila of the Divine.

Tuesday, 13 December 2011

'Into a blind darkness they enter who follow after the ignorance, they as if into a greater darkness who devote themselves to the Knowledge alone.'

- Isha Upanishad

Some time around 2000 BC, or perhaps even earlier, when much of Europe was still perfecting the art of survival, sages and seers of India were contemplating on the very nature of Reality.

Meditating along river banks, on slopes of the mighty Himalayas and in remote forests, these wise men had realised that the human existence was a mere veil of something mightier and more profound than life itself. They had discovered that there was a more 'real' existence than the mental existence and a 'greater' Life than the physical life. For the awakened men the forms and enjoyments that ordinary men worship and pursue were not anymore the object of desire.

Thus rose the cry of the Upanishads - Rise and aspire beyond, free yourself from this illusory world of phenomenon and death and become your true immortal Self !!

The Upanishads also known as the Vedanta or the culmination of the Vedas, are actually the essence of all Vedas and from the Upanishads was born the Bhagavad Gita, the song celestial - which contains a philosophy so practical and yet so profound that no other philosophy of this world or the next has been able to surpass it.

The European powers were astounded when they were told by a German Indologist, Max Muller and later by another German philosopher, Schopenhauer that the earliest inhabitants of this primitive and savage land that they had set out to civilize and conquer had discovered the highest metaphysical truths when much of European civilization was still in its infancy.

Ironically it was the Persian translation of the Upanishad written by a Muslim prince - Dara Shikoh which was instrumental in taking the primeval Hindu wisdom to the West.

Friday, 23 September 2011

In recent times Sufi music and poetry have moved from the shrine to the stage. Some consider this trend to be undesirable. They believe that in the attempt to make it more appealing it is being diluted and corrupted for public consumption. However the fact remains that the increasing popularity of Sufi music and poetry, in whatever form, has in no small measure contributed in revealing the compassionate, tolerant and creative aspect of Islam to the non-Muslim audience.

Like its philosophy and beliefs, the Sufi poetry performances have, over the ages, adapted to the indigenous styles of the continent as well as added some of their own. Among the most popular are Sufiana Kalaams (sacred words or compositions), Kafis (folk music from the Punjab region), K’waali (a form of devotional singing normally performed at Sufi dargahs), and Na’at (poetry recitation in the praise of Prophet Mohammad).

Amir Khusrau’s Compositions in Bollywood Films

Hindi movies were among the first to introduce compostions by Sufis to the larger public. The most popular among movie makers were the lok geets and love songs of Amir Khusro. His compositions in Hindavi (a synthesis of Brijbhasha and Urdu) were among the first to find place in Hindi movies. Some of his mystical compositions in which Hindvi and Persian couplets were seamlessly woven appeared in the later period.The movie ‘Suhag Raat,’ under the direction of Kedar Nath Sharma, produced in 1948, had a bidai geet (song sung when the bride is finally sent away with her in-laws) penned by Amir Khusro and sung by Mukesh. The music director was Snehal Bhatkar. This composition was also sung by Lata Mangeshkar in the film Heer Ranjha (1948) with some modifications, and again in the 1954 film ‘Suhagan’, under the music direction of C.Ramchandra and Vasant Desai. In this song, the young bride is appealing to her father not to marry her and send her away to foreign shores:

KAHEKO BYAAHE BIDE

Skaahe ko byaahe bides, are lakhiyan baabul mohe

kaahe ko byaahe bides ...ham to baabul tore khunthe ki gayaa

jahan kaho tyon bandhehi jaye

are lakhiyan baabul mohe ...

kaahe ko byaahe bides ...

ham to baabul tore bele ki kaliyan

are ghar-ghar maange hain jaaye

are lakhiyan baabul mohe ...

kaahe ko byaahe bides ...

Hum To Baabul Tore,Pinjarae Ki ChidiyaAre Kuhuk-Kuhuk RaatI Jaaye

mahalan tale se dola jo nikala

are beeran mein chhaaye pachhaad

are lakhiyan baabul mohe

kaahe ko byaahe bides ...

bhaiya ko diyo baabul mahalan do mahalan

are ham ko diyo pardesh

are lakhiyan baabul mohe

kaahe ko byaahe bides

are lakhiyan baabul mohe

However the best rendition of this song was by Jagjit Kaur, under the music direction of Khayyam in the 1981 film ‘Umrao Jaan’ produced and directed by Muzaffar Ali.

Amir Khusro q’waali style was introduced to the moive audience in the film ‘Barsat ki raat’ (1960), directed by P.L.Soni. The q’waali, ‘Ye Ishk Ishk Hai’ under the music direction of Roshan became an instant hit This movie was among the first bollywood movies to popularise the q’waali form of music, in which the legendary poet Sahir Ludhianvi took some liberties with the following composition of Amir Khusro:

Later in 1962, Shevan Rizvi introduced Hindi film audience to another of Khusro’s compositions in the film ‘Ek Musafir Ek Hasina’ under the music direction of O.P.Nayyar. The film was directed by Sashadhar Mukherjee. The following lines were beautifully sung by Asha Bhonsle:

The first scene of Hindi film Junoon (1978), produced by Shashi Kapoor and directed by Shayam Benegal, opens with a beautiful composition by Amir Khusro, ‘ Chchap teelak sab chcheeni re’ combined with ‘Aaj rang hai’ set to music by Vanraj Bhatia and sung by Jamil Ahmed:

The house of my Beloved is filled with radianceAt last I have found my Beloved in my own courtyard

I have found my pir Nizamuddin Aulia.I have roamed far and wide in the world,and I found You to my liking;

And lo behold my entire world is filled with radiance.

I have never seen such Devine radiance beforeHe is forever with me now,Oh beloved, please colour me in your radiance;

There is radiance everywhere, Divine Radiance)

Note: Khusro sang these lines in ecstasy when he came back to his mother after meeting Nizamuddin Aulia for the first time, after a long search for an ideal Sufi master. Hence the above lines are addressed to his mother

Like long dark lustrous curls is the night of separation,and our union brief like the short -lived life ;

How will I endure the dark night without my Beloved?With sudden charm your enchanting eyes have robbed my mind of peace

No one bothers to convey my agony to my BelovedTossed about in bewilderment, like a flickering candle,I writhe in the fire of love;

I lie without the Beloved, sleepless and restless,but the Beloved neither comes nor sends any message.

I shall wait for the day I meet my Belovedwho has seduced me for so long, O Khusro;For I have saved my heart and my love for the Beloved....

Gulzar Sahab has been instrumental in popularising sufiana kalaam in Hindi film music. In 1980, the film ‘Ghulami’ directed by J.P.Dutta, had a song written by Gulzar under the music direction of Lakshmi Kant Pyarelal. This song was inspired by Amir Khusro’s composition ‘Zeehal- e Mishkeen’, which has alternate lines in Farsi and Hindavi:

Zehal-e miskin makun taghaful, duraye naina banaye batiyan;

ki taab-e hijran nadaram ay jaan, na leho kaahe lagaye chhatiyan.

Shaban-e hijran daraz chun zulf wa roz-e waslat cho umr kotah;

Sakhi piya ko jo main na dekhun to kaise kaatun andheri ratiyan.

Yakayak az dil do chashm-e jadoo basad farebam baburd taskin;

Kise pari hai jo jaa sunaave piyare pi ko hamaari batiyan.

Cho sham’a sozan cho zarra hairan hamesha giryan be ishq aan meh;

Na neend naina na ang chaina na aap aaven na bhejen patiyan.

Bahaqq-e roz-e wisal-e dilbar ki daad mara ghareeb Khusrau;

Sapet man ke waraaye raakhun jo jaaye paaon piya ke khatiyan.

Following is my interpretation which may not be a literal translation:

In more recent times, the song ‘chhayya chhaya’ from ‘Dil Se’ (1998) under the music direction of the living legend A.R.Rahman, became an instant hit and heralded an entirely new genre of quasi-religious sufi poetry and music in Bollywood films. This song is originally based on ‘Tere ishq nachaya kar ke thaiyya thaiyya’ a Punjabi sufi Kalaam by Bulle Shah. It was rewritten by Gulzar. The film ‘Maqbool’ (2004) by Vishal Bhardwaj, who directed the music, Gulzar composed the song ‘Jhin mini jhini’ opening with the lines by Khusro – ‘Khusro rain suhag ki’. Of late Gulzar sahab has been using the Sufi style of repeating two-syllable Farsi words to give it a mystical dimension. The song 'Tere Bina' (Dum Dara Mast Mast), in the film Guru (2007), under the music direction of A.R.Rahman, is one such instance:dum dara dum dara mast mast dara – 2dum dara dum dar chashma chashma nam.....

Here the world dum could mean many things: breath/ life/ prana; dara again could mean in/ inside/ door/ door to the soul or Being; mast means trance/ecstasy; chashma means eyes, could also mean vision; and nam means moist. The repetition of ‘dam dar’ could imply to the breath control that Sufis indulge in to get vision or to enter into a higher state of mind or ecstasy.

Filmi versions of Sufi songs are now a norm in Bollywood films and are a big hit with the audience.

Bullhe Shah in Popular Imagination

While folk singers, qawwali singers, maniar singers and popular singers like Runa Laila have been singing Sufi compostions for the general public, Sufi music has only recently captured popular imagination. We now have solo singers as well as self-styled bands from the Indian subcontinent captivating audiences from all over the world with their various adaptations of age old Sufi compositions. A cursory scan of U-tube will display numerous forms of Sufi compositions including the ‘rock’ and the ‘pop’ versions. However the Pakistani band ‘Junoon’ deserves credit forbeing instrumental in popularsing Sufi poetry with their hit song ‘ Sayyoni’, then came the living legend Abida Parveen who took the Sufi music world by storm with a voice that was both ethereal and filled with divine passion. At present there is no dirth of popular singers on both sides of the border who are playing a significant role in popularising Sufi compostions. Kailash Kher and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan are among the most popular.

SUFI POETRY BY POPULAR SINGERS AND BANDS

In 2004, Rabbi Shergill converted the abstract metaphysical compositon of Bullhe Shah, ‘Bullah ki Jaana’ into a popular song, which became a huge sucess in India and Pakistan. Bullhe Shah’s composition again appeared in the song ‘Bandeya Ho’ in the 2007 Pakistani movie ‘Khuda ke liye’. The 2008 Indian movie ‘A Wednesday’, written and directed by Neeraj Pandey, had a song, “Bulle Shah, O yaar mere” in its soundtrack. Bullhe Shah’s composition was rewritten in this film by Irshad Kamil The music director was Sanjoy Choudhury. In the movie Raavan (2010) Gulzar used Bullhe Shah’s ‘Ranjha Ranjha’ in one of the songs. In 2009, Episode One of Pakistan’s Coke Studio Season 2 featured collaboration between Sain Zahoor and Noori, and as a result, Bullhe Shah’s ‘Aik Alif’ became immensely popular.

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About this blog

Asho-Dara is dedicated to the sages and seers, philosophers and mystical poets of the Indian subcontinent. It is dedicated to kings like Ashoka and princes like Dara Shikoh : one gave up power and glory to walk on the path of non-violence and compassion and the other was a true seeker who did notdifferentiate between Islam and Hinduism and searched for Truth in both. This blog is about humble weavers like Kabir who could weave the highest truths of mysticism into everyday language and peasants like Narsinh Mehta whose devotion to his Lord amidst utter poverty has few comparisons. This site will show case the multiple faiths and pluralistic traditions of this region. It will explore the thoughts and compositions of Nanak, Amir Khusro, Bulle Shah, Mirabai, Waris Shah, Sant Tukaram....and others. The list of great souls who tread on this great land is endless, the spiritual heritage that they left behind is endless. Endless are the treasures that lie deep within the heart of this region which stretches from the Kanchenjunga to Hindu Kush and beyond. For the winds of divinity, recognize no man-made boundaries, embracing every one in their silent sweep.

All translations of the poems cited from the original language into English, unless indicated otherwise, are by this writer. You are free to use undistorted write ups of this blog for non-commercial purposes with due acknowledgements.